Palma | Bus tour fun and perfect endings!

Our last full day in Palma, yesterday was our last chance to get everything done that we’d missed so far. And the best way to fit everything in and see the top tourist sites? Bus Tour! That’s right, we went full on tourist and grabbed ourselves a couple of tickets for the hop on hop off tour bus.

For a tidy sum of €17 each, we had a day ticket to the bus, which does a circuit of the city and also ventures out to the port and castle. Our first stop was Mercat De L’olivar where we grabbed a croissant for breakfast, and a sandwich and empanada for lunch.

The market is huge, and deserves its title as one of the best in the city. It’s all inside, and all food, though when we first walked in we thought it was just fish. Not only are there all types of fish on sale, you can also enjoy a fishy dinner at one of the little restaurants. A bit disappointed that it was just fish, we continued on to find that there was actually another room, which has all the other market stalls. Hot cooked meats, cured meats, fresh meat (yep, even managed to find a sheep’s head!), baked goods, and fresh fruit and veggies were all in the other room. As with the fish room, there were also stalls were you could enjoy your dinner, mostly of the tapas variety. I really enjoyed checking this market out, and was shocked to find an escalator in the middle leading up to the second floor. Ever nosy, we went to see what was up there and found a supermarket selling all the bits you couldn’t get downstairs. You really could do your weekly shop at this market.

Back onto the bus, we followed the tour to Bellver Castle. Everyone gets a pair of earphones so you can plug in and essentially have a guided tour as you drive through the city. It was only as we neared the castle that I realised I had no idea what the guide was saying, as I’d been listening to the French channel for the last 20 minutes. Bellver Castle has a really interesting history, which I won’t go into in this post as it’ll end up being more of an essay, but for people who aren’t that bothered about history I’d still recommend a visit. The castle itself was the first circular castle in Europe, and from its location in the hills, the views are absolutely stunning. There’s a museum too, which we worked our way through for a brief history of Palma, before making our way to the rooftop and soaking up the views of the city and harbour. We’d timed it well to visit on such a stunningly gorgeous day, and I could have spent hours up there just looking at everything.But alas, back to the bus we went and completed the remainder of the tour through the port area before arriving back the hotel. When we’d first booked Palma, we had the idea that we could spend the mornings sightseeing and the afternoons lounging by the pool. Yesterday was the first time we’d made it back in time to catch the sun by the pool, but there were no sunbeds at all. So instead we went back to the room for a chill out before heading out for our last dinner (although I did have a cheeky sunbathe on the balcony!)

Our last night in Palma was near perfect. We both wanted tapas for dinner, and I really wanted to eat in the charming square by the weird art installation we’d seen on our first day. The atmosphere was lovely, the food even nicer and I had the best patatas bravas I think I’ve ever had. Half way through our meal, a man arrived in the middle of square and just started singing…it really was a lovely meal!

Stuffed to the brim, we wanted to see the cathedral lit up with Parc de la Mar in front of it. As darkness fell, the cathedral lights gave it a whole other feel than from the day, and as someone played their saxophone in the background it finished the day off perfectly. After a gentle stroll back to the hotel with ice creams (standard!), we got to bed early in the hopes we’d find a sunbed by the pool for a morning of sunbathing before heading home.

Missed the previous posts? Check out our antics on Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of the trip so far!

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Mercat de l’Oliver is a great market, one of the main ones and it was refurbished a few years ago if I remember well.

Have you tried the new Mercado Gastronómico de San Juan? It’s at Escorxador, a bit away from the tourist central bit, but worth it, especially if you want to see the real city and how the locals live. I thought I’d let you know as it’s just recently opened and I haven’t even tried it myself yet, but I am sure you’ll love it! I’ll probably do a post on it soon but for the time being, check it out: